Just This Once
by Serenity Vi Britannia
Summary: "I already have a father." *batman theme music plays/bats fly around* How things SHOULD have gone after Robin said those immortal words. Oneshot. Rated Teen for slight cursing. Not slash.


"Who knows? I might even become like a father to you." Slade commented, slapping the device onto Robin's wrist as the boy stared at it, his eyebrows knitting together angrily behind his mask. Looking back up at the man, his expression just as angry and defiant as it ever was, the boy finally uttered his response.

"I already have a father."

Slade turned around, raising an eyebrow behind his mask in confusion as he heard the boy's retort and soon he pulled the controller out of its hiding spot on his person. Holding the device in his hand, the man was about to threaten the boy for what seemed to be the millionth time when the bats in the rafters started flying around in a frenzy. Slade looked up, wondering what the creatures could possibly be doing, and as he did so he was met with a fist to the face.

Dropping the device as he flew backwards, Slade soon flipped over to try and regain his balance but he was met with another punch to the face. Whoever the figure was, it moved with a strength and agility that far outmatched his own skills. It surely was not Robin, the boy was definitely not _that_ good, but who was this mysterious figure? Slade never got the chance to ask, for after several fists to the face, his mask shattered, causing the figure in black to sucker punch him in the gut and leave him writhing on the floor in pain. Footsteps sounded off as they walked away from him and Slade squinted to try and get a better look at who it was.

Slade's eyes widened in shock, it couldn't be! It just couldn't! Just then, the man heard the beeping sound… Slade frantically looked around, where was it? Where was the bomb? A crack sounded off as his remote control was smashed into a million pieces and the beeping accelerated. No! It couldn't end like this! The beeping sound got faster, and faster, where was this damn thing? Finally, he saw it, his reflection in one of his screens revealed the bat-shaped device attached to his back. It lit up with every beep it gave off, and the beeping was still going strong. Slade made a grab for the device, his fingers almost touching it when-

_**BOOM!**_

Staring in shock at the spot where Slade was, Robin's jaw had dropped and he was stunned. Slade was dead. It was that simple. But who-? The smoke cleared, footsteps echoed throughout the lair and Robin instinctively backed away from whoever it was. Slade could not have survived that, could he? Running into the wall behind him, Robin shook in fear as the footsteps got closer. Whoever it was, they were going to kill him. He just knew it. His friends would never know where he was at this point! Bracing himself for impact, the footsteps stopped and Robin looked down to see a pair of familiar dark boots facing him. Raising an eyebrow, the boy's eyes made their way slowly up the figure, wondering if this was some sort of dream or hallucination, but he hoped that this was real. There, standing before him, was Batman.

"Bruce-! I-I- What-"

"We're leaving. NOW."

Robin flinched as Batman growled at him, his eyes downcast as he backed away from the man he had only moments ago called 'father' to the villain who held him captive. The two of them had always been the most stubborn fools in the world. They would never admit they were wrong, nor would they admit to needing the other, and it was just a vicious cycle. It was part of the reason why they were no longer a team. Despite how grown up Dick tried to be, he was still a teenager, and he did not take very well to yelling.

"You're not the boss of me anymore!" He snapped, finally gaining the courage to look his father in the eye.

"Don't you know you could have been _killed_? What the hell is the matter with you Richard?" Batman snarled, his eyes narrowing as he watched his son flinch once again. Dick was never called by his full name unless Bruce was extremely upset, and unfortunately he was. "And you say you can take care of yourself. Some job you're doing. First you get all your friends infected because of your damn pride and here you are; a slave to this-_THING_!"

"Why do you care? All you think about is yourself and your damn company! I'm just a pain in your ass, aren't I? I always have been! I was just a mistake you wish you never made!"

"How _dare_ you say that!" Batman roared, causing his son to stare at him, wide-eyed. "As much as I wanted to tell myself you were a mistake, you sure as hell weren't. I don't raise mistakes. Come on. You are going home and changing. You look like an idiot."

Robin froze, watching his father closely. Bruce had always been blunt with him, but he never showed he actually cared. Sure, he was there when the boy had a nightmare or something when he was younger, but there was something in Batman's voice that made Robin start to think-maybe he _did_ care?

Robin's fists clenched, hanging his head as he bit his lip and let Bruce's words sink in. Bruce didn't consider him to be a mistake. He… Cared. His eyes stung as his body shook, the walls he had built up from his years of training starting to crumble as he realized that his "father" loved him. Sniffling lightly, the boy turned back to face his father and seconds later he was launching himself into Bruce's arms. Clinging to his father, the boy shook as he cried; burying his face into Batman's warm chest and crying just as he had done when he was a child and those nightmares plagued him over and over again. Batman stiffened, not used to this sort of contact, but soon he sighed, shaking his head. He hated being the softie. That was Clark's job.

Blinking in surprise, the Bat soon found himself flashing back to those cold, stormy nights when he would find Dick sobbing in the corner of his room due to nightmares of his past revisiting him. With a sigh, Bruce wrapped his arms around the tiny, shaking boy as he sobbed, pulling him into a tight embrace and placing his head upon Robin's. He hadn't done this in years, and he was rusty with being the comforting parent. Then again, he was never really good at it, but he needed practice.

As Robin breathed in a shaky breath, the Bat soon gave him a squeeze and pat his head much like he did all those years ago. "Let's go now. Everything is going to be fine, Dick."

"Promise?"

Bruce couldn't help but feel a smile twitch at the corner of his mouth, his former ward looking so small and helpless with that sad look upon his face and he chuckled. It was rare that anyone would get a chuckle out of Batman, but when it happened it was something you should take a picture of and keep forever, for it was probably not going to happen again anytime soon.

"I promise."

* * *

><p>AN: Soooo, I wrote this really quickly while waiting for the shower in my dorm after I had a discussion with my friend Alex about how awesome it would be for Batman to arrive on the scene in that episode of Teen Titans where he's referenced directly by Robin. Yeah, sure it's kinda sentimental at the end, but deep, deep down I know Bruce loves his boys. Robin would probably be all embarrassed that Batman had to save him, but he misses his "dad" a lot, so I think that would have triggered some sort of emotional reaction if his father swooped in to save him-just this once.


End file.
